When you hear the word "ramen," what do you think of? If you are a Westerner, African or West Asian, chances are you think of dried noodles with some strange powder, served in a styrofoam cup. You pour boiling water into the cup, wait for three minutes, and serve. Ramen is also usually inexpensive, leading to the quote above where having to eat ramen on a daily basis is an implication that you're close to broke. Which companies and brands you see most often will depend on the country you're from:

The United States and Latin America: Maruchan's Instant Lunch and Nissin's Cup Noodles and Top Ramennote Sapporo Ichiban, mentioned below, is actually a higher end noodle dish in the US, costing about a dollar per packet compared to the pocket change of Maruchan or Nissin.

In an example of Brand Name Takeover, "ichiban" is often used as a generic term in Canada to refer to any type of ramen. In the original Japanese, it means "number one".

Poland: Yum Yum, Vifon and Knorr Nudle - the last one has many unusual flavors for ramen, including Hungarian goulash and very popular locally tomato soup.

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Russia: Korea Yakult's Doshirak and local Rollton brand,note Originally of Vietnamese origin, but now throughly localised, though reportedly still owned by the member of the Vietnamese diaspora. although recently Nong Shim started to make a dent. Chinese/Taiwanese brand "Master Kang" and Vietnamese "Choice", "Mivimex" and to the lesser extent "Mivina" (which is more popular in Ukraine) are the locally popular imports, as are the Japanese brands, which are seen as a more upscale product, often costing as much as a freshly made dish of ramen in the Japanese restaurant.

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We shall begin with dehydrated noodles, as this is more familiar to a westerner than fresh ramen. While "ramen" refers strictly to a specific type of Japanese noodle (often in soup), the term is also used to refer to any package of dehydrated noodles with seasonings for a single serving. On the other hand, recently many producers started to differentiate between various type of noodles, so one can encounter amusing combinations like "udon instant ramen".note Ramen—the fresh kind—are a Japanese development of Chinese noodles, and might well be the Japanese pronunciation of the lo mein you find at Chinese restaurants pretty much everywhere (except of course most of China).

Instant noodles were invented by a guy named Momofuku Ando, a naturalized Taiwanese immigrant who, among his many commercial ventures, was once a successful salt merchant and knew the food industry inside out. Once in 1947, at the height of the postwar poverty in Japan, he saw a long line to the ramen shop in Osaka, and thought that it'd be nice if the people wouldn't need to wait outside for hours to eat. He then went to experiment in his storage-shed-turned-a-lab in his backyard, and after 11 years of experiments finally found a solution: fry the freshly boiled ramen in palm oil until crisp to remove moisture, then pour concentrated chicken stock over, dry it off and sell. So in 1958 his first product, Nissin Chicken Ramen, was out. Later, he or one of his employees invented a styrofoam cup, and so Nissin Cup Ramen was born. Ando died in 2007, at the ripe old age of 96 (eating his invention everyday, mind you), but Nissin Food, his company, remains the largest player on the market up to this day.

There are dozens of companies creating literally hundreds of different sorts, with at least one representative from every Oriental country. Step into an Asian (or even a general) supermarket, and you will see an entire aisle devoted to these noodles, usually spanning both sides. Dehydrated noodles exists for Indonesian mi goreng, Vietnamese pho, Japanese udon and yakisoba, Thai tom yum and pad Thai, Korean jjajang, Chinese wor wonton, and so forth. Udon is an odd case in that the noodles do not dehydrate properly, so they are normally shipped undehydrated and stored refrigerated, separate from the other types of ramen, or simply vacuum-packed, though in this case it's better to check the expiration date carefully — they have somewhat shorter shelf life. Nevertheless, preparation techniques are the same as their dehydrated kin.

But the familiar styrofoam cups are not a given: they are characteristically Japanese and in foreign markets managed to get a hold mainly in US, so in other countries cup ramen would most probably be imported. The cheaper varieties will most commonly come in bags, which are meant to be prepared at home; but some more upscale types will come in plastic/cardboard bowls or buckets, which are meant to be prepared at school or at work. Most will cook in the same way as the familiar cup noodles (immerse the noodles in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, then uncover), though you should expect to see separate packets for the soup powder, as well as the occasional packets for chili powder, hot sauce, oil, soy sauce, fried garlic, vegetables, vinegar, etc., in addition to the brick of noodles. Some (mostly various versions of the ubiquitous fried noodles, such as mi goreng or yakisoba) require you to soak the noodles, drain, and then season them. Some brands require no preparation at all—you'd eat the dehydrated noodles as they are (actually most could be, as they're all ready to eat, rehydration just makes them more palatable). The approach depends both on the manufacturer and the type of dish.

What all dehydrated noodles have in common, however, no matter what country they're from, is that they're symbolic of poverty — or, at least, not exactly stable life. Which is somewhat ironic, given that initially instant ramen was seen as an upscale product, and cost significantly more than the real stuff: the original asking price of the Nissin Chikin Ramen was 36 yen per portion, while the common ramen stall in Osaka would sell you the large bowl of the fresh stuff for something like 15 yen in 1958. Things changed since, though,note The King Size portion of the Nissin Cup Ramen costs ~180 yen nowadays, while the fresh stuff floats around 380-450 yen per bowl. and now whether it's the starving university student, people living alone flooded in debt, or folks who have fallen on hard times, whenever you see someone in fiction pouring boiling water into a brick of rock-hard noodles, you can tell they're hungry for money as well as food. Quite Truth in Television, as instant noodles are quite cheap and can be prepared quickly. The somewhat more nutritionally conscious might put in some veggies and an egg, although most brands nowadays, especially Nissin, also packs dehydrated eggs, veggies, and meat along with the noodles and the seasoning.

Dehydrated noodles as seen in media

The heroes in Cowboy Bebop always find themselves eating dried noodles of various types due to their constant lack of money. It becomes a Running Gag. This being the future, the cups have a little steam-making device built into them.

Lucky Star has a few scenes with instant ramen, discussing the tendency to forget about it while it's cooling.

One of the Project X nonfiction business documentary mangas is about Nissin and the creation of the Cup Noodle.

In one episode of Patlabor, the prince of a Middle Eastern nation comes to visit Japan to check out their mecha police program. After becoming friends with the show's police squad he becomes enamored with "commoner" food and demands to be provided with every flavor of dried noodles they can find.

Despite living with a very good cook, Kazuki Yotsuga and Ken Sanada of Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure wind up sneaking instant ramen at midnight, saying they need that cheap junk food taste.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Cup Ramen is specifically stated to be Jack Atlas' Trademark Favorite Food. Justified, in the sense that he (along with Yusei and Crow) grew up as an poor orphan in Satellite, and they were so deprived that even eating cheap Cup Ramen is a considerable luxury for them.

A specific brand, Red Demon's Noodle (a reference to his Signature Card) was a focal point in one episode.

In one chapter of Area 88, McCoy sells Shin a case of cup ramen, which Shin much appreciates as a taste of home. Meanwhile in Japan, Ryoko decides to just have a cup ramen instead of eating anything fancy. The chapter closes with both of them waiting on their serving of cup ramen to finish cooking—Shin with a huge grin on his face.

In A.A. Pessimal's Discworld and The Big Bang Theory crossover The Many Worlds Interpretation, Ponder Stibbons is introduced to instant ramen in a laser research lab at Caltech by Leslie Winkle. He tastes them and instantly realises there are Dibblers on Roundworld. He deduces this because like a Dibbler sausage, you can't believe what you're eating, you sense the plastic pot would be more nutritious and less harmful than the contents, you have suspicions as to what nameless stuff goes into it, and yet knowing all this, you still want to eat the stuff.

Literature

In Uglies, they have tons of types of dehydrated meals, many involving noodles, which are all written in CamelCase, and so would all be Wiki Word-ed here.

In The Tomorrow Series, city girl Fi is entirely unfamiliar with Two-Minute Noodles. Jack tells her about him subsisting on Two-Minute Noodles for a whole week when living with his father before the war.

Live Action TV

In Red Dwarf, Lister refers to "Pot Noodles" as a meal of last resort. He eats dog food over them in "Marooned", and in "Angels and Demons", when on a "perfected" version of the Red Dwarf, he tests its perfection by ordering Pot Noodles from the food dispenser.

In a first-season episode of Breaking Bad, Walter White gives a pack of ramen to his old business partner Elliott Schwartz as a memento from their days working together as struggling graduate students.

An early episode of ER had Dr. Ross catching Dr. Carter preparing to feast on a cup of instant noodles, despite being from a very wealthy family. Turns out, his family cut him off due to a disagreement.

In Once Upon a Time, when Mr Gold is banished from Storybrooke and moves in with Ursula the Sea Witch, he's shown making ramen noodles in the microwave as an illustration of how much he's fallen. Ursula explains to him how it works, to which he irritatedly points out that he's been in the real world almost as long as she has.

On Orange Is the New Black, the inmates use ramen seasoning packets to season the disgusting food that is introduced after the corporate takeover of the prison.

Video Games

In Ace Attorney, Dick Gumshoe frequently finds himself eating ramen... when he can afford it.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater takes place in 1964, and ramen is an uncommon item that offers excellent stamina recovery, and doesn't rot like other foods.

In a not in the least bit subtle example of Product Placement, Final Fantasy XV prominently features Nissin Cup Noodles as both a food item that can be eaten at camp and as the subject of an entire sidequest where Gladiolus convinces the party to find a special ingredient of the player's choice to make the perfect cup. It has to be seen to be believed.

If that wasn't bizarre enough, one of the game's DLC items is a giant Cup Noodles hat for Noctis. A free add-on released on August 31, 2017, it originally appeared exclusively in a Japanese TV spot aired around the time of the game's release.

One subplot in Yakuza 3 revolves around a food conglomerate trying to replicate the signature dish at local ramen restaurant in instant form.

Cup 'O Ramen is a very cheap quick meal available in The Sims 2: University.

In Undertale, Instant Noodles are a food available in Dr. Alphys's lab. Unlike other food items, however, when consumed, you are described the entire process of preparing them (it doesn't take quite as long, but...it gets the point across), and are about as healthy as in real life, as they only grant you 4 HP. If you use them in one of the possible final bosses, however, you instantly consume them and they max out your HP. "They're better dry".

Implied in a few NPC thoughts in The World Ends with You — they don't specify, but 100-yen ramen is probably not a fresh bowl from Ramen Don's. Incidentally, that very shop does offer insta-noodles in exchange for a 100-yen pin (cash not accepted for this product); unlike Ken Doi's other fare, this one is no good for Stat Grinding as it only boosts your sync rate.

In Freefall, Florence the uplifted canine recalls that in her student days her standard meal was a bowl of instant ramen and kibble.

Florence: They combine better than you would think. The downside was when my college roommates found out, they ate all my kibble.

Web Original

There is a video out there (on YouTube) where purely for scientific interest, two willing volunteers prepare and consume a twelve-year-old Pot Noodle found in the forgotten dark depths of a food cupboard. What worried them was that while it looked grey and unappetising, it still tasted broadly as if it were still fresh. Preservatives are there for a purpose, it seems...

Fresh ramen as seen in media

Anime and Manga

The eponymous character in Naruto is a fan of ramen, preferring the fresh kind when it's available, but also eating the dehydrated packaged ones on a daily basis. The series has a ramen bar, Ichiraku Ramen, that's internationally famous. It's telling that even after everything Naruto went through (up to finally becoming Hokage and starting a relatively well-off family of his own), he still brings his family and friends to Ichiraku, as a mark that he remembers his roots.

The Ramen Girl, a movie about an American woman who follows her boyfriend to Japan, ends up getting dumped by him and left stranded there, and later drowns her sorrows at a local ramen restaurant. To cope with the loss, she vows to become an expert ramen cook and convinces the restaurant owner to train her in cooking ramen. She also gains the ability to create empathetic food - putting her tears in the broth - and uses it in the closing scene of Probably Happily Ever After back in the USA.

Video Games

In The World Ends with You, there's a ramen restaurant (Ramen Don) whose food affects the player characters' stats. In Week 2, Day 3, a mission revolves around Ramen Don and a rival ramen shop which opens a few doors down.

Persona 3 had Hagakure Ramen as a typical hangout location, usually important for Social Links.

Ramen has apparently become an Earth delicacy in the Mass Effect universe by the time of Mass Effect 2. Kasumi speaks about her grandmother preparing it, and a cook at a restaurant on the Citadel can also be overheard talking about it. Alternatively, the chef is trying to con some Citadel tourists into eating "genuine" Earth cuisine.

In Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, Travis can recover all his health in the middle of a level by purchasing ramen dishes from Bugjirou's traveling stall. Each time, you get a distinct variety of ramen, and you unlock an entry in Travis's ramen blog. Said blog is basically Food Porn in written form, raving about how great each type of ramen is—and then invariably subtracting points because the restaurant doesn't also serve beer.

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